Doorstep Arts Makes Waves with Arts Council

Doorstep Arts Makes Waves with Arts Council funding announced and new residency programme.
Doorstep Arts and many of Torbay’s young performers are celebrating after Arts Council England confirmed £70,400 funding for their ‘Stepping Stones’ Programme over the next two years. The good news means security for Doorstep’s pioneering work across Torbay’s three towns, providing high quality arts participation and career progression for children
and young people aged 4 to 25.
The funding will allow Doorstep to grow their regular activities for children and young people, using schools, libraries and community centres to reach as many children as possible across Torbay. These include drop-in groups at the Acorn Centre Torquay and The Edge Brixham among others, as well as regular groups at the Palace Theatre in Paignton.
As part of the programme, Doorstep Arts will also become ‘artists in residence’ at Palace Theatre from April 2016 to March 2018. It is hoped that the residency will bring a whole range of new performance opportunities to this significant local venue, incorporating new theatre and dance productions, digital and site-specific work – and opportunities for
children and young people.
The funding will also ensure that children and young people get to perform their own original work alongside outstanding touring performances as part of the Doorstep Theatre Festival in April and October each year. The Festival is part of
Battersea Arts Centre’s Collaborative Touring Network, which also received confirmation of ongoing funding from Arts Council England earlier this year. This is great news for Torbay, ensuring that we get to see some of the UK’s most
exciting theatre on our doorstep.
A new mentorship programme, ‘Foot in the Door’ will also provide young people aspiring to careers in the arts with bursaries for artistic ideas, peer learning, technical skills development and shadowing a professional artist in their
chosen field.

“Torbay Culture Board are delighted at this confirmation of funding for Doorstep Arts from Arts Council England. Doorstep have enormous impact on the lives of children and young people in the Bay, developing their creativity and exposing them to amazing theatre through their partnership with Battersea Arts Centre. They represent home-grown
cultural development at its very best.” [Kate Farmery, Executive Director, Torbay Culture]

The programme is setting out to ‘make waves’ across the community, changing lives and changing attitudes to the arts.
Children and young people will be encouraged to explore their thoughts and concerns about issues arising in Torbay, and to use them as material to develop their own scripts and productions.
‘Making Waves’ will be a recurring theme for the children’s performances over the two years. Young people in all of our groups will devise an original performance, working with a whole range performance artists, directors, puppeteers, scriptwriters
and visual artists, the programme will provide rich creative experiences for both the young people involved and the audiences who see their final work.

“Children’s voices can be enabled and empowered through theatre and performance work. We work tirelessly to ensure that all young people in Torbay can access high quality arts provision in their own communities, where they feel safe and
supported to explore what it means to be an artist, to have a voice, to express, to play imaginatively and to build confidence.” [Jade Campbell, Doorstep Co-Director]

To find out more about Doorstep Arts and the Stepping Stones programme go online at www.doorsteparts.co.uk or call
them on (01803) 558811.

For more information visit http://www.doorsteparts.co.uk/